Breaking News: Save the Cheerleader, Save the World. Goodbye Hayden.

 

Hayden Panettiere played Claire Bennet, the cheerleader who couldn’t be killed, for four seasons on “Heroes.”

She died Sunday in Greenville, South Carolina, five days before her 37th birthday.

Police say there was nothing suspicious about the scene where she was found.

Hayden Panettiere Dies at 36, Cause of Death Under Investigation

Hayden Panettiere is dead at 36, her father confirmed Sunday night.

“It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden,” Skip Panettiere said in a statement released through his daughter’s representative.

He called her “an incredible light and a force of nature” and asked for privacy while the family grieves.

Police in Greenville said officers and EMS responded to a report of an unresponsive woman at an apartment complex on Easley Bridge Road around 1:50 p.m. Sunday.

She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators say the preliminary investigation has turned up no signs of foul play.

Her cause of death has not been released. Her publicist, Kasey Kitchen, said the investigation is ongoing and more details are expected soon.

TMZ reported Panettiere had flown out of Los Angeles the day before her death.

Hayden Panettiere’s Heroes and Nashville Career, From Child Star to Screen Icon

Panettiere began acting at age 4, landing a role on “One Life to Live” before she’d started elementary school.

She broke out playing Claire Bennet on “Heroes,” then spent six seasons as country star Juliette Barnes on “Nashville.”

Her film credits include “Remember the Titans,” “Raising Helen,” “Ice Princess” and “Scream 4.”

She returned to the “Scream” franchise in 2023, reprising her role as Kirby Reed.

Inside Hayden Panettiere’s Memoir on Postpartum Depression and Addiction

Panettiere published a memoir this past May called “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” opening up about postpartum depression, addiction, domestic abuse and the loss of her younger brother.

In a 2022 interview with “Good Morning America,” she said she couldn’t tell where her drinking ended and her postpartum depression began.

“I ran myself pretty ragged,” she said.

Her brother, actor Jansen Panettiere, died suddenly in February 2023 from an enlarged heart and aortic valve complications. He was 28.

She told People magazine two years after his death that she never expected the grief to lift.

“I will never be able to get over it,” she said. “No matter how many years go by, I will never get over his loss.”

Actor Emme Ryland, who worked alongside her in “Bring It On: All or Nothing,” called her a “sweet soul” in an Instagram tribute and wished her family peace.

Daughter Kaya and Ex-Fiancé Wladimir Klitschko

Panettiere shared one daughter, Kaya, with her ex-fiancé, retired heavyweight boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko.

The two were together on and off for nine years before splitting in 2018.

Kaya has lived with her father in Ukraine.

Fans and former co-stars are already remembering her online, many of them pointing to the same thing: an actress who spent two decades being honest about pain most people hide.

Claire Bennet always found a way to survive.

Hayden Panettiere spent years showing the rest of us how hard that actually is.

Sources:

• Skip Panettiere, statement via family representative, August 16, 2026.
• Greenville Police Department, statement on death investigation, August 2026.
• ABC News, “Hayden Panettiere, star of ‘Heroes’ and ‘Nashville,’ dies at 36,” August 17, 2026.
• NBC News, “Actor Hayden Panettiere, known for roles in ‘Heroes,’ ‘Nashville,’ dies at 36,” August 17, 2026.
• Billboard, “Hayden Panettiere, ‘Nashville’ and ‘Heroes’ Star, Dies at 36,” August 2026.
• Fox News, “Hayden Panettiere dead at 36,” August 17, 2026.
• Hayden Panettiere, interview, Good Morning America, 2022.
• Hayden Panettiere, interview, People magazine.